We had an awesome week. We met the "standards of excellence."  Ya'all dont know what that is, but it's 7 member present lessons, 10 other lessons, 5 less active/recent converts, 20 declares, 4 people at church, and a bunch of other stuff like that.  We met all of them!  So it was a perfect week!  Also, we set Bernardo with a baptismal date for the 30th of August!  Sorry no time..  Love, Elder Parrish :)

Well, it’s hot here.... 90s.. We went down to Ventura for interviews with the mission president this week, and it’s like 20 degrees cooler by the beach.  President and Sister Felix are awesome, though!!!!!!  I love them.  

We had a really good week. B---- is showing really good progress. He is 29, and has an awesome desire to come to church, but has been so sick that for the last 4-5 years he hardly leaves the house.  Just walking around his house tires him out and he has to rest, so we have been walking with him almost every day to build up his stamina. He can only make it to the end of the street before he has to rest and we can walk back. We teach him as we walk, and then we teach him when we get back to the house as well.  This week, we taught about church, the word of wisdom, the restoration, the priesthood and baptism.  Bernardo loves what we teach, is already living the word of wisdom, and accepted baptism, but is hesitant to set a date, just because he doesn’t know when his health will be good enough that he would be able to attend church and everything else that goes along with baptism. He has great faith, though, and read the first 17 chapters of the Book of Mormon this week!  He’s so cool and humble.  I feel so bad for him.  He can’t even leave his house.  He just has to lay down all day every day.  Another testimony builder of the word of wisdom.  So we are really excited for him to get better through the gospel and through faith.  Also his sister, C--- is reading in the Book of Mormon, as well, and his mother C--- sits in on the lessons too. 

We did some more service for F--- this week.  All I do is dig!  We are digging post holes... which I have some experience, thanks to the back fence I built....  :) but not regular post holes.... massive 4 foot deep post holes.   We needed to dig 4... I dug 3  and I dug this huge trench, as well, in the time it took Elder MacKay to dig one hole :) (haha)  Elder MacKay gets so mad, cuz I can dig faster than him. :)  We were able to discuss the Bible and some Biblical prophecies, including Ezekiel 37, which F--- found really interesting and was excited to look into the "sticks" of Judah and Joseph/Ephraim some more.

Ditch I dug, along with 3 monster holes

Our investigator, S--- has been to church like 5 times and has gotten an answer that she needs to be baptized, but is still in denial and not really progressing any more.  She still loves the missionaries, though, and made very generous donation to the church this week, just because she loves us so much. Her daughters (Who TWEET about me during church.......) are also in and out of interest in the church, but non-committal.  It’s really hard to teach them, cuz they’re just like every other high school girl and only want to hang out and talk to us.   So that’s going nowhere fast, but I know someday it will click with S---, just in the Lord's timing is all. 

We also had another really good lesson with R--- and M--- this week.  They are the ones from Fillmore, Utah.  They have been totally inactive for the past 40 years, but still continue to read the Book of Mormon and the Ensign, and watch conference and do everything they are supposed to do, menos que asistir a la iglesia.  We taught about geneology and family history work, and had a member present who helped them set up familysearch.org accounts, and taught them how to index.  They showed us some of their family history, including a book that has all of the pioneer settlement stories of their families, and we even found some Parrishes in the book!  It’s amazing how much the gospel ties us all together.

L--- is another less active member we have been working with, who just a couple months ago was very against the church, and now she has come to church twice in a row.  Yesterday she stayed for all 3 hours! Her dad is Brother R----, who I have made pretty good friends with. He’s like 70, but were pretty tight.  He always just talks about hunting stories and makes fun of Jehova’s Witnesses.  There are tons of Jehovah’s Witnesses here.  I never even knew who they were until my mission.  We’ve had a few opportunities to talk to them when they knock our apartment door :)  I found I REALLY love to “Bible bash”....  I usually do pretty good at avoiding it, but that doesn’t mean I still don’t want to!

Elder MacKay’s mom sends me more mail than I have gotten my whole mission from my own family.... :) 

Love,

Elder Parrish

Lake Piru

 

 

I hope you are doing well.  I am doing fantastic here in Fillmore with Elder Mackay. We had a good week and saw some miracles. One of them is that our investigator, E---, who has been reluctantly coming to church with her member husband and son for over a year now, said she wants to be baptized! Finally! She was kind of feeling pressured by the missionaries for quite a while, so we had started to give her some space for a couple weeks and then when we went last week we found out that she really liked the Gospel Principles class we started, and finally feels like it’s time to get baptized. She has some upcoming dental work apparently that she wants to get done first, so we haven’t set a date with her yet. Hopefully it won’t be put off for too long.  The ward is super excited for her and so are we.  We also taught J---, who is dating a less active member.  We have been meeting with him for a while and he wants to be baptized as soon as possible.  He is doing well and continues to progress.

C--- and B--- are brother and sister.  They are new investigators from this week and have great potential. C--- accepted to read and pray about the Book of Mormon and also accepted baptism when she gets an answer. She also wants to come to our English class on Wednesday.  They both want to come to church as well, but unfortunately B--- has some serious health problems that prevent him from leaving the house.  He has asked us to come and work with him, though, and really has a desire to recover to the point with his health that he can come to church.

L--- is less active, and we see her nearly every day.  She’s is very old and has very poor health.  She wants nothing more than to receive her temple blessings before she dies.  We stop by daily, or call and share scriptures with her over the phone. She was scheduled to receive an epidural this week for her back pain that radiates down her leg, and asked for a blessing. We gave her the blessing with her home teacher on Thursday night, and I was the one who said the blessing.  She went in on Friday and the clinic wasn’t ready for her and pushed her appointment back all the way until the end of the month. So we were disappointed she wasn’t able to get the epidural, because we know how much pain she is in.  She was in high spirits, though, and was totally fine with it, because she said the blessing helped her so much and took all of the pain out of her leg! She has great faith. 

In my studies this week, I have been especially impressed with the importance of consecrating ourselves. In Matthew 8, there are two of his followers that come to Jesus and say they want to be his disciples and travel with him. To the first man, (a scribe of good reputation among men) he says "the foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head." I have always known that scripture, because it says foxes... but I never understood what that meant until this week and never attempted to find the doctrine behind the passage. Christ took no thought for food or where he was going to be sleeping or how his physical needs were going to be met, and anyone who thinks they want to follow him, better be willing to do the same.  Apparently, the scribe wasn’t able to give up his good reputation to make that sacrifice.  It helps to look at the next man who also wants to follow Jesus, but asks that he first be permitted to go bury his dead father. Jesus replies: "Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead," so it means that the service of the Lord, especially in Christ's ministry, is superior to all other earthly duties.  It requires such a high level of consecration that even important family matters must come second. (Sorry familia.)  Another instance in Luke 9:62, when Christ tells His would-be follower that "no man, having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of heaven".  This led me to study his parables of the hidden treasure and the pearl of great price- no amount will ever be good enough to purchase the parcel of land or the pearl of great price unless it is "all that he hath."  We can’t receive a celestial glory with a partial surrender.  We must renounce everything.  I love that, even though it’s a slap across the face as I realize all of the many areas of my life that need improvement and that I ought to do so much better.

We had exchanges this week with the elders in my district. I went with Elder Hernandez in his area on the other side of Fillmore, so I got to dust off the cobwebs on “ol' Legion” (my bike) (see Mark 5:1-13) and ride it again. It felt great.  Oh, and I had a wheelie contest with some guy that said "Joseph Smith vs. Yahue of Armies".. and then he rode a wheelie for like 20 yards... so then I rode a wheelie for 30 yards... and then he pedaled away. nbd

Love, Elder Parrish

We had a great week.  I love the Fourth of July and celebrating our great country.  In my personal studies on Friday, I read 2 Nephi 1:6-9, which is Lehi's prophecy about the Promised land and how it will be a choice nation and a land of liberty so long as we serve God. Doctrine and Covenants sections 98, 101, and 134 also have awesome scriptures about the constitution and the importance of supporting our rights and privileges, especially the freedom of religion.  I gave Elder Mackay a real hard time since he’s from Canada :))

We taught some good lessons this week, and had 4 investigators at church yesterday!  Two of them come every week and are part of the Z--- family, but the other two were regular investigators.  J-- really wants to get baptized but there are some hangups, so we are figuring out what we can do there, and the other was a girl named D--- who is the friend of a less-active member we have been trying to get to come to church since I first got here to Fillmore, and yesterday they both came! 

My favorite part of the week, though, was with A---.  He is 15 years old, his mom has been less active for his whole life. But he is a great athlete, and already has a few different D-1 schools offering him football scholarships. We got him to come to mutual/scouts with the young men on Wednesday and he had a blast playing basketball with them. He is reading in the Book of Mormon, and said he believes it is true. We invited him to be baptized and he said yes!  He really wants to come to church, but so far he hasn’t been able to come, because he has basketball practice at 5:30 am on Sunday mornings, so we are still working with him to get him to church.

We also did quite a bit of service this week.  We helped F--- pour some concrete in his yard we have been digging up for him, and also pulled some weeds for H---.  Service is one of my favorite parts of missionary work.  I've come to know that it’s also one of the most successful ways to earn trust with investigators.   We are also teaching an English class to 2 women, who are friends of a member  here, and she is a great fellowship for them. This is another great way to serve and build trust.

Well, last week in Sacrament Meeting, we sang the national anthem and as it closed, Brother R---, the less active we brought to church yelled "PLAY BALL!!" Haha.  It was super funny, but some of the old ladies in the ward thought it was me, so I kind of got chewed out.  Then, yesterday for Fast and Testimony Meeting, he stood up and apologized for saying that and then bore his testimony and then he said the @$$ word in his testimony.... Hahahaa, ole Brother Ramirez.   He tells hunting stories for days just like Grampa Parrish :)

Love, Elder P 

 

Welcome President and Sister Felix -
The Ventura Spanish Zone

This week was pretty cool.  Transfers are today, but my whole district is staying except for Hermana White is going to Oxnard, so I’m excited to stay another transfer here in Filllmore with Elder MacKay. President Castro finishes his mission this week, so there weren’t a lot of changes to make things easier on President Felix.  

 

We had zone meeting with President Castro, and basically had a good-bye testimony meeting, and then took pictures with him after.  Sister Castro said she has a picture of me that she wants to send to you.  Sister Castro reminds me a lot of you, Mom.   She looks like you too, just shorter.  The more I get to know her, the more she is like you, just not as cool of course :)  Last night there was an open house for the Castros in Ventura that we went to.   We rode down with our bishop, so that was great to get to talk to Bishop McKinney on a more personal level, and the open house was great. Literally every single time I have seen President Castro on my mission, he tells me "You look good Elder Parrish, you look really good."   I haven’t been able to figure out if he's talking about my incredibly good looks that I inherited from mom, or if he means it in some other way... I just smile and say thanks either way.  Then he always says that I am a good leader and one of the missionaries they never have to worry about.  He says he knows that wherever I am they don’t need to worry, because they know I am on top of things.  So it feels good that President Castro trusts me, even though I feel like there are a million ways I need to improve.  He has changed my life, and I hope I can pass it on by changing the lives of the people of the Great California Ventura Mission.

We have found 4 new investigators this week who all have great potential.  One in particular was a man named F----. We did service for him and had a great discussion about the restoration and the plan of salvation while shoveling dirt.  I looove digging and sweating.   F----- is a super cool Methodist, who just recently has started going to church a year ago.

We stopped by the R----- family on Friday afternoon, and he said, "Oh good, it’s the elders.  I was just about to call you!" He needed a blessing.  He has been really sick this whole week since Monday, and was just about to call us for a blessing.  I love it when that happens.  Even though it was just a regular name we had in our planners to visit at that time, and we didn’t think it really had any significance, it turned out to be exactly when he needed it. The Spirit knows what he's doing, even if we don’t.

A similar situation happened yesterday after church we had a noche de pelicula with the ward and investigators planned for that afternoon and were on our way, but decided we should stop by C----‘s house on the way. (I wrote about her a couple weeks ago..) C----- opened the door and Ii could just tell something was wrong. I asked if she was ok and she just bursted out in tears crying. She calmed down, and told us that yesterday when she got home from work she didn’t notice her dog, T---  jump in her car. She shut the garage and went in the house and took a nap for an hour. When she came out to go to the beach with the dogs, she found T--- dead in the car from heat exhaustion.  C-----'s dogs are the most important thing in her life.  She loves them and takes care of them just as much as she takes care of her son.  They are part of the family, especially T---. He was a really cool dog, so well-behaved and He knew exactly what you were saying to him all the time, and would respond back with his eyes and barks. She is completely devastated.   It was really hard to see her like that.  There wasn’t anything we could do but comfort her and bear our testimonies.  She asked us to please pray.  Then she thanked us for coming and said she really needed it.   Again, she wasn’t even on our plans and we had other things to do, but for some random reason not apparent to us, we stopped by at precisely the right time.  

This week, I realized how amazing the Holy Ghost is and how important it is that we follow it.  It makes me think back on all the times where we may have missed out on helping someone in need because we weren’t following the spirit, or just too caught up in the numbers game to think of seeing someone when they needed us. It’s so humbling, and just makes me want to be exactly who Heavenly Father wants me to be.

Love, Elder McKay Parrish

 

It was a crazy week!   Last week, my companion, Elder Bautista got emergency transferred to Oxnard, so I was in a “tripan” with Elder Hernandez and Elder Berg.  We made quite the team!

Elder Berg, Parrish, and Hernandez

 Any rate, today I get a new companion, Elder Josh Mackay!!!  Mom met him and went to lunch at his house!  So I’m pumped for that.  I was his district leader when he went home a couple months ago for meniscus surgery (*curse those meniscus'es*) and he and I made plans of all the things he needed to do and not do in order to come back out to the field, and he promised me he would be back.  So now he’s here 2 transfers later and he’s my companion! 

Elder MacKay (middle, back row) made the Ventura missionary moms an awesome Mexican lunch while he was recuperating from surgery.  

Yesterday at church, we taught the primary class of M----.  He is ten years old.  His dad and brother are members, but his two sisters and mom are not.  He has been coming to church every week for about 6 months or more now, and has an amazing understanding of the gospel already, probably more than I did when I was 8. A few weeks ago, he expressed his desire to be baptized, but wanted to wait until he was 12, so he could learn more.  That seemed interesting to me and pretty mature for his age as well, but we encouraged him that he was ready and invited him to pray to know when he should be baptized.   Yesterday, we taught the plan of salvation to his class of 8-10 year olds. We drew it up really big on the chalk board and emphasized the gospel of Jesus Christ, discussing the things we need to do in this life in order to make it to the celestial kingdom. Long story short, at the end of the class he said he wanted to get baptized on Saturday July 5^th!  So we talked with his dad afterward, and he seemed really pleased with his son’s decision. We feel like his baptism will be a great step in his mom's progression,  and an opportunity for her to feel the spirit and get her answer, as well as their other 2 daughters.

We had three lessons with L----.  She’s awesome.  She is the nicest lady ever.  We had 3 lessons with her ​this week. We taught the Law of Chastity on Tuesday, helped her make a quit smoking plan from Preach My Gospel on Friday, and taught about tithes and offerings on Saturday. She accepted everything so readily and is an amazing woman.  She just has a pretty rough family background at home right now that adds a lot of stress.  I’m sad I won’t be able to continue meeting with her regularly, since she is on the other side of Fillmore, and today we will be going back to the regular division with Elder Mackay's arrival.

We have lessons quite frequently with a less active member named L-----.  Every scripture or message we share with her has been something that she thought about or had questions to just the day before. It is such a small and simple tender mercy of the lord, but a great testimony strengthener to me that there are no coincidences and God knows exactly what he has in store for his Children.

Love,

Elder Parrish